The anticipated increase in demand for pilots over the coming years, combined with a push toward evidence-based training aids, call for new tools to support instructors to objectively measure trainees’ scanning performance. Eye-tracking based training tools may offer a solution to the so-called ‘monitoring problem’ as they may inform the instructor what a pilot has looked at and when, while also highlighting what they have not looked at.
Eye-tracking systems have only recently reached a point where they may be practical to use in an operational training context. This paper reports on quantitative and qualitative measurements of the value and utility of an unobtrusive eye-tracking based training aid installed in a Lead-In Fighter Training Hawk 127 Full Mission Simulator.
In Study one, seven instructors conducted operational training sessions both with and without the use of an eye-tracking based training aid. Questionnaire responses indicated that using the eye-tracking tool provided benefits such as an increased awareness of trainees’ scanning behavior. In Study two, five instructors viewed video replays of flight sequences performed by a mixture of trainees and instructors. Some replays displayed pilots’ scanning behavior while others did not. Pilots’ identities were hidden and instructors had to judge whether the replay featured a trainee or instructor. There was no detectable difference in correct judgments for replays with versus without eye-tracking information. This was likely due to the remote nature and low-quality of replays, and the advanced performance of the trainees, however.
Interviews with instructors provided important context with which to interpret the quantitative results, as well as offered insights which will aid future development and integration of eye-tracking based training aids in operational contexts. The current research demonstrates that eye-tracking tools can offer significant benefit to instructors. However, it is crucial that these tools are properly integrated into the training environment.